Wonderer's Wish World 2: Evolutionary Rebirth

Dry Bones

Day 24

Time: 6:59PM

Location: The Basement, Death-Tastin' Desert

Other than the rumbling of the motor, the ride was dead silent as they all traveled through the tunnels, Ben keeping a close eye on Darius' map as they went, making small turns and adjustments where he needed to. He didn't look at Darius behind him. Darius was kind of glad for it.

His stomach was in knots, and he had curled around himself, feeling queasy. Maybe it was because he had eaten too much, but Darius thought it was much more likely the cause of the images passing through his head, and they persisted. Even the mysterious files couldn't take his mind off of them.

Karre, running towards them.

Karre, enveloped in darkness.

Karre, gone.

It was The Rot. Darius was sure of it. The Rot had attacked, had taken Karre away and killed him. Because of course it did. Of course Karre had to die, and of course it was all Darius' fault. Maybe if he hadn't been here... maybe if he hadn't have called out...

Karre had said Darius had a strange sort of sway over him that neither of them could understand, but Darius, confused and hurt, had pushed away the observation, thinking it couldn't possibly be true.

And now Karre was dead.

...He'd have to be more careful, from now on.

Suddenly the vehicle rolled to a stop. Darius looked up in surprise, glancing out the window. They were still in a tunnel... why was Ben stopping them here?

Apparently, everyone else had the same question.

"Ben...?" Hilda asked, her voice soft, nervous. "Why are we stopping here?"

Darius looked to his friend, and then quickly looked away, unable to stand the sight of Ben slumped over in despair on the wheel.

Darius heard Ben sigh, his shoulders shaking slightly and his hug against the wheel tightened. It seemed to take him a few moments to gather himself.

"We'll move soon, I just..." Ben paused. "I can't... I'm too tired to continue moving forward right now."

Hilda worried her lip between teeth, a sympathetic look on her face. What Ben was going through... she would understand all too well. "Okay."

They all sat in silence for a few minutes, four in total, where Darius sat, curled up, and watched the numbers on his watch tick up slowly. After four minutes, almost on the dot, Ben sat up, opening the vehicle door and getting out, slamming it behind him. No one called out for him, even as he disappeared into the darkness.

Darius watched him go. "We probably shouldn't follow him, should we?"

He saw Molly turn her head to the sigh, cocking it slightly as if she were thinking, though Darius guessed she was actually listening for Chara, waiting for them to tell her what she should do.

In the meantime, Hilda said, "No, probably not. I mean, if we were following the rules, then yeah, definitely, but... I think he just wants to be alone right now."

"Right," Darius said, though mentally he was kicking himself. Ben was his friend, shouldn't he know that? But Darius had never been good at that, even back on the Island. He looked down.

"...Well, I have some music, if anyone wants to hear it?" he asked them, and after everyone mumbled their agreements, he clicked on the radio, grateful that there were no popup messages this time.

Everyone leaned back against their respective seat, and let the music wash over them slowly, the gentle hum emanating from Darius' watch helpful for smoothing down their guilt, worries and grief.